The invention relates to a capped lamp/reflector unit comprising:
a reflector body provided with a concave reflecting surface having an optical axis, and with a neck-shaped portion around said optical axis;
a lamp cap surrounding the neck-shaped portion and having a shell and an end face transverse to the optical axis, from which end face mutually electrically insulated contact pins issue to the exterior;
an electric lamp with an electric element which is positioned on the optical axis and is connected to the contact pins by means of current supply conductors.
Such a unit is known from EP 0 367 323 A.
End portions of the current supply conductors act as the contact pins in this unit. During assembling the electric lamp is to be shifted and possibly tilted in the reflector body in order to be accommodated in such a way that its electric element is aligned with respect to the reflecting surface. A defined position of the electric element is thus accompanied by an undefined position and direction of the contact pins.
Stringent requirements, which render a lamp holder for the unit expensive, are therefore imposed on this lamp holder which must not only hold the lamp cap securely, but also effect electrical connections with the contact pins which have an undetermined position relative to the reflector body and to the lamp cap.
It is nevertheless desirable to provide the unit with pins by way of contact elements, since these pins render it possible to make the lamp suitable for operation at a high or at a low voltage. This is because contact pins are capable of cooperating with contact members of a lampholder which are positioned in recesses, so that the lampholder is safe to touch.
It is not feasible to bend the current supply conductors after alignment of the lamp in such a way that they project from the lamp cap in the correct positions. This is because the current supply conductors are rigid because they must be used as contact pins. Furthermore, bending could undo the positional alignment of the lamp or damage the fastening of the lamp in the reflector body, effected in the known unit by means of cement.
Neither is it attractive to have flexible, for example, comparatively thin current supply conductors cooperate telescopically with contact pins and to fix them therein. This construction would not be possible with widely used diameters of these pins, which are often no thicker than approximately 1 mm. In addition, thin current supply conductors would lead to electrical losses.